Tag: Yanmei post

Posted on

生于忧患死于安乐 – trip from India to Nepal to Kunming

March 11, 2018, Sunday, Rain in Kathmandu

”生于忧患，死于安乐” is a saying in China. It means if you feel very safe and easy, you are going to die or fail; if you are alert to potential risks and difficulties, you can survive.

Today, we are going to fly to Kunming, China from Kathmandu, Nepal. Looking back at the 4 days we lived there, a lot disappointments. I underestimated the difficulties, hygiene problem, and pollution of this country. It was ten years ago, a friend told me how nice it was. Actually, the dust pollution is even worse than Delhi, India. The food and and water has potential risks too. David got a few times of diarrhea yesterday. He also got headache. I searched on line about Typhoid. His symptoms meets the most: headache, constipation, sore throat, diarrhea, feeling of nausea. OMG, if he got Typhoid, he might die. I asked him to see the doctor a few times, he refused me every time. 15,000 people died of Typhoid in 2015 in India. [David: I was vaccinated for Typhoid before this trip] He might have got it in India. I am also at risk too. I should be careful, washing hands is very important.

Luckily, David felt okay this morning after having some Chinese Medicine for cold and western medicine for diarrhea. His western habits can cause him troubles here.  He assumes everything (glasses, spoons, forks) is clean, whereas I assume it is dirty and wipe it off.  He also eats with his fingers, like toast or naan, which is dangerous because even if you wash your hands it is easy to touch something dirty.  I got some phlegm in my throat this morning, so I had the Chinese herbs right away.

“You survive if you predict the potential problems and risks, you die if you underestimate them”.  We did prepare well for our trip in India. David got a lot information from his Indian coworker. We chose the best season to travel and we lived in an expensive hotel. We only drank bottled water and even used it when we brushed our teeth. Therefore, we successfully prevented the risks and problems.

While at the airport, I searched the temperature of Kunming. It is chilly, only 17 degrees, I reminded David to wear his jacket. Suddenly, we heard thunder and saw pouring rain outside of the waiting room. David asked, “it is thundering and lightning, why are people still boarding? If it is in the US, the flight will be delayed”. “I hope I will not die on the way to China.” I was scared but I teased him. Then we boarded in the rain.

I suddenly thought about writing a will for my son, handwriting is better, because it counts even without witness. Who knows what will happen today or tomorrow. Just last month, my friend Lea almost died on the flight to Hawaii. One of the engines had a problem 1 hour before arriving to Honolulu. As they were on the Pacific Ocean, they could not land. The flight was shaking for whole hour and might get fire when landing. She told me the story on WeChat and my tears came out. Luckily, my friend survived. She does not fly as frequently as me…

I missed my son yesterday and texted him twice. He replied to me this morning. I got up with my back pain. David said that missing him gives me tension, and that tension always manifests there. This is an important year for him, the second year of high school. He must have a lot stress and taking many exams. Should I stay and support him in Beijing? I do not know. It seems he does not need me. Every time I ask him about taking care of him in Beijing, he refuses me. I do not know if it is what he really thinks.

The flight attendant asked me to turn off electronic devices now. So I have to stop writing. Hope our trip in Kunming will be uneventful…

Yanmei

Posted on

First day of Kathmandu, Nepal

March 8, 2018, Thursday, Sunny, Kathmandu, Nepal

We arrived to Kathmandu yesterday afternoon. At the airport, we filled in visa application on a machine and no need to give photos to the visa officer. I guess it is new, so convenient! But I saw many people go to the visa officer without fill in the application on the machine and they did not prepare pictures, so, they have to pay for that.

In order to be safe, we took the prepaid taxi, costs 750rs, more than double I expected. The street was busy, but the most impressive thing is the dust pollution. I felt it is more serious than Delhi. Luckily there’s no tuktuks, not that noisy. At the end, we passed narrow streets with small shops and we arrived out hotel. David said it is most exotic city he had ever visited. We found a vegetarian restaurant nearby and had our dinner. I ordered momos (dumplings) and a hot and sour soup. The momos was with too much curry and the soup made me feel like throwing up. We decided to do not go to that restaurant again. On my way to home, I bought some lentils for 20rs and vegetables for 65rs.

This morning, after having a big breakfast, we walked to a ruined square.  On our way we bought some necklaces and 2 table cloths. We both took a lot pictures. In the afternoon, we walked to the famous Monkey temple. On our way, we found a restaurant. David ordered Buffalo momos, I ordered veggie momos. We both found buffalo momos are very tasty.

At the temple, I bought an antique bag. We enjoyed our walking, did not take any taxi. The air is very dusty, so I bought a good quality mask on our way. In the evening, I cooked some veggies rice in the hotel kitchen. I found people are pretty honest and friendly here. For example, on our way back to home, a group of Nepal kids said hello and took pictures with us.

  • David registered a plane trip to the Himalayan mountains. He needs to get up early tomorrow…
  • David got sick starting after a couple of days in Delhi, after a late dinner meal in that expensive hotel. He still has it now. Hope he can recover soon.
  • Momo is a popular dish in Nepal. Similar to Chinese pot stickers, can be steamed or fried.

Yanmei

[David writing here]

I have to add one more interesting story about this picture.

As Yanmei was taking this shot a fight between two monkeys was breaking out behind her. You can see the monkey on Buddha’s shoulder is very interested and even I am not looking at the camera. The instant after this pic, the monkey jumped down and charged into the fray. Other monkeys were running to join in as well, but it was all over in about 2 seconds, because two stray dogs ran in and broke it up and chased the fighters up separate trees. It was interesting how the dogs instantly became the peace keepers.

David

Posted on

The most beautiful train ride in the world?

Feb 27, 2018, Ella, Sri Lanka, Rain on and off, Tuesday

Yesterday, we took 6.5 hour train to Ella from Kandy because it is considered the most beautiful train ride in the world. David preferred to take a taxi but I insisted. However, I realized I made a wrong decision when I saw so many travelers waiting on the platform. Luckily David survived, but was not squeezed to a piece of paper. We were separated by crowd of people to different cars for whole trip. I was worried a lot about him as he never experienced this in his life and he was taking a giant luggage and 2 big bottles of water, the worst thing is he does not know how to be aggressive to survive in this situation. However, just after 1.5 hours, he sent me a text message and told me being looked at as a senior people has some benefit: a local young guy gave his seat to him, later I knew this guy stood for more than one hour before getting off. This is not the first time I feel how nice the local people are.

Before finding a seat, I talked with a couple of young Chinese travelers. It was very nice to know how younger Chinese think about the world and their life. I added them as friends on my WeChat later. One girl who is from Shanghai and thinking about studying overseas for her Masters degree is traveling with her boyfriend. She has to take 3 hours to arrive her office and another 3 hours back to home, which surprised me. But I can tell she is an independent, open minded girl. Another girl is from Yiwu, where there is the world famous small goods wholesale market in the South of China. She is doing some kind of export business. She told me many Chinese wholesalers got deceived by foreign buyers, that shocked me too. I asked why, she told me they are desperate to get the business as there is too much competition.

To be honest, 6.5 hours train is very very long. Since so many people squeezed into the car, white, Asian, local, old young, baby…we are physically very close and mentally bored. What we could do? At that moment, I suddenly thought of a reality show called Big Brother. People are put into a big house and see what will happen.

I not only interacted with Chinese people, I talked a little bit with a senior guy from Holland. He has done business internationally and he still got some cultural shocks in Asian countries in his trip. I asked what they are and he only told me people are so poor in Vietnam…apparently he has some concern to talk about Sri Lanka. Finally I got a seat after 12 o’clock. After sitting down, a local woman sat face to face to me and she smiled at me a lot. I saw her beautiful dress and a gold decoration between her two eyebrows. I smiled at her back and told her it is very beautiful and she seemed understand and bobbled her head. I asked her if the gold decoration made her hurt. I do not know if she understood me. She just made a friendly smile and bobbled her head again. Another woman smiled at me too and she told me her family is in Ella and later when I went to restroom, she agreed to take care of my seat without hesitation. Later, a baby girl who looks like only a few months, was passed to the beautiful dress lady who was sitting face to face to me. The girl has a pair of big eyes, so bright, as big as her nose, full of curiosity. She looked at me and another white guy standing near us. She is so cute and the white guy started to smile and blinking his eyes to her and she seemed very excited and burst into laughter and jumps. She was so cute. I thought about taking a picture of her but I did not feel right. It seemed the white guy and the young girl understand each other so well just with facial expression. They made us happy too. The guy suddenly took his cellphone out and showed that to the girl, it was the selfie mode, the girl reached to see the cellphone and she saw herself, her eyes became super big with surprise…that made people around her burst into laughter.

At times, I felt not only in our car, at another side of the car, some local girls are singing with somebody playing drums. Whenever our train passed a tunnel, people, I think mostly local, cheered and made echos, then some foreign travelers follow as well. It was so fun, of course we have seen the beautiful water fall and tea gardens too. However, the international interaction is the best part for me, at moments, I felt we are the same, even thought our skin colors are different, the squeezed train brought us together and made us closer. I would call it happy international train ride, but not the most beautiful train ride in the world, but it is a kind of beauty when you see the smiles, laughs, and interaction in this train. At times, I felt it is not worthwhile to stand 6.5 hours for this train ride and the view was not that beautiful at all, but at the end, in the sense of human interaction, I believe this is one of the most beautiful train rides in this world.

Yanmei